Special report - Corporate image

Developing and enhancing your branding as a business can greatly enhance your market presence, especially on-line. This report covers the most important aspects of bear in mind when developing a brand strategy.

Some 2,000 years ago, bread making slaves in Pompeii used to mark their bread with their name using a stamp, to act both as a reminder of the bread maker and as an advertisement to potential customers. This may well be the earliest example of branding and has only been preserved thanks to the eruption of Mount Vesuvius.

Brand is such a core component of business image and marketing that the lack of it almost is disturbing. The image of a plain soft drink (on the cover of the printed copy of the report) is unsettling as it doesn’t appear to be real, as we become accustomed to brand names and most follow our favourites, like star struck teenagers. Some businesses use the lack of image and name as their image.

Clean imageless clothing products without names was used by Abercrombie and Fitch a decade ago a part of their exclusive marketing strategy with great success. Most businesses, however, do retain their name and brand as a vital component of their marketing and sales promotion. The preservation and protection of that brand is crucial to success – this report covers the most important aspects of branding for Finance Directors and Chief Financial Officers to bear in mind.